Cheesy Stuffed Shells with Meat
This pasta dish is easy and delicious! Jumbo pasta shells, stuffed with seasoned ground beef, then covered with parmesan cheese, pasta sauce, and mozzarella.
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 422kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon salt (divided)
- 1 12 ounce package of jumbo shells
- 1¼ lbs. ground beef (lean)
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- nonstick cooking spray
- 1½ teaspoon dried mint
- 3 tablespoon parmesan cheese
Sauce
- 6 ounce canned tomato paste
- 2½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon citric acid
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.
- Fill a 6-quart Dutch oven ¾ full of water. Add olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt and bring the water to a boil.
- Add shells and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water.
- Meanwhile, brown the meat in a medium-sized pan. Add the onion, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, and paprika. Cook a few more minutes and set aside to cool.
- Note: If using higher fat ground beef, drain the extra fat from the pan.
Sauce
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer the sauce while you stuff the shells.
Stuff the Shells
- Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Stuff each shell with approximately 1 tablespoon of filling and arrange in the prepared baking dish.
- Pour the sauce over the stuffed shells, then sprinkle with mint and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the shells, cover with foil, and seal.
- Bake the meat-stuffed shells for 30 minutes.
- Serve the stuffed shells with salad and garlic bread.
Notes
- Be sure to drain the cooked shells completely before filling them with the meat filling.
- In mom's original recipe, the ground beef was seasoned with allspice and curry. I've left it out in this recipe, but if you would like to try the original recipe, add 1 teaspoon of allspice and ½ teaspoon of curry to the filling.
- Mix the ground beef with ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, or even cream cheese for a creamier pasta dish.
- For a quicker version of this recipe, use jarred pasta sauce instead of making your own sauce.
Nutrition
Serving: 7shells | Calories: 422kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 1199mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g
